Allan Mallinson

An ancient stalemate may provide lessons today

History is always relevant, says Adrian Goldsworthy – and Rome’s long war with Parthia-Persia, ending in deadlock, should make Putin wary

Roman troops threaten to use a battering ram against a Parthian town. Coloured engraving, originally from an 18th-century French edition of Polybius’s Histories. [Alamy]
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  • The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict

    Adrian Goldsworthy

    Head of Zeus, pp. 650, £35

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